A Day Late & A Dollar Short

It may be Saturday, but is there really a better time to write a Friday post about our week???

I think not! Saturday wins.

There are 33 school days until summer {35 for us teachers}. Not that I'm counting... yet.

Our days at this point are hit or miss, but I'm aiming for more hits.

1. FOOD! My kiddos this year will do ANYTHING for food.  I will feed them every darn day if I have to.  We chowed on some gummy worms & leaves while writing *quietly* about compost piles.  I had a REALLY hard time not just eating all of this delicious gumminess myself!

2. Accountability is key!  Especially these last few weeks.  We have SO much to learn yet, and I need to make sure my little learners are with me.  We use post-its and this wonderful Stick It To Me chart {idea credit: The Inspired Apple} before, during, or after lessons to help me keep track of learning.

My kiddos LOVE taking turns being the "Tell Us Teacher" and choosing 3 answers or ideas from the chart to share aloud with the class.

3. Math Bins were a hit this week thanks to my Buggy Math Centers!  They were perfect for spring, reviewing key math standards, & I love hearing the little giggles of excitement when they read each centers' funny name. You can find them HERE! They're even on sale for the week - just because!

4. Confession... I have a HUGE planning problem!!! It's OUT. OF. CONTROL.

So bad, that when anyone asks my husband to do something or hang out, he always tells them, "You'll have to get in touch with my personal planner."

If I leave my planner anywhere, or (heaven forbid) lose it... well that's just not going to be any bit of okay!

I am a crazy planner person & I need help!  Just kidding.  {Sort of.}

I love, love, LOVE being a planner.  It makes me happy.  It keeps me kind of sane.  Aaaaand I don't "plan" on givng up my ridiculous planning tendincies anytime soon. ;)

I've been fretting for WEEKS now because my planner ends in June, and folks, I've got major plans that happen after June! The running list in the back of my current planner just isn't cutting it for me.  I NEED to write those plans in neat little boxes with bright, colorful pens {or pencils... because life is messy & my planner needs to be erasable}, in my fanciest handwriting.

We finally made it to Target last night (romantic date night, ya know).

Straight to the planner aisle, after a quick stop at the Dollar Spot, of course... and ALL of their planners were January-December!!! WHAT?!

As a teacher, I live from July-June and need my planner to be on the same page.

I sulked.

As we were walking away, my amazing husband spotted a side rack of THESE:

Adorable July-June planners! They came in teal, pink, and royal blue with adorable designs.

I choose the royal blue. To match my classroom of course.

My everything/life planner came in a Monthly/Weekly format (necessary).

The larger planner is only Monthly & is used to sketch out tenative lesson plans.

Yay, Target!!!

5. I've been enjoying the beauty that is spring all week! Hope you are, too!

Sunshine & Freebies!

This weekend's forecast: Sunny. Sunnier. Sunniest! And WARM to boot!

LOVE. IT.

This was our first week back from Spring Break, and it was a bit rough for the teacher.

I was dragging myself out of bed, waaaay later than normal.

My husband actually told me to, "Get it together, already!"  Apparently he's not a fan of my week long snooze button addiction.

Somehow, by the grace of God, I pulled myself together in time for school each day.

Only spilled my coffee all over the kitchen floor once. WIN!

Here's how the week ended up:

1. We've been playing a TON of games to get us through & keep the kiddos motivated.  They really, really, REALLY need to be moving at this point in the year when their attention spans are about thislong.  We've been using our Slap It slappers for everything from social studies to math!

2. Biographies are in full swing, & I'm LOVIN' it!  We've studied politicians and now sports stars!  My second graders eat up these biographies!

3. Keeping with the theme... we've changed up our Daily 5 Listening to Reading station for a bit.  It's currently Biography Bags. Huuuuge hit!

4. We've finally wrapped up our engineering unit on Bridges!  It was exciting and difficult learning all about how forces act upon different structures.  To help drive the idea home, we read The Three Little Pigs & identified the forces acting on the brick house.  You can grab yourself the FREEBIE I whipped up for us, HERE!

5. I'm working on not cheating on my healthy eating, BIG time, because somehow I can always find an excuse to eat an entire bag of Reese's mini peanut butter eggs.

This Caprese salad was delicious & super good for my body!

However, it's Friday afternoon & I'm REALLY feeling like this... EEEK!

Pray real hard that I don't find the Oreos any time soon!

Have a SUNNY weekend, friends!

Surviving!

Spring break is A-Mazing!

...Until you have to go back to work.  It's like a taste of summer getting to play in the sun, sleep in till 6 AM, and actually get your house clean.

{I mean, I can't be the only one who only has a clean house in the summer... please tell me you're with me!}

That sunshine, though.  Makes it sooo hard to be in a classroom all day.

But, there's learning to be done! So here's how I'm surviving the 4th quarter...

Games, games, & more games!  Anything to keep the littles interested in the MOUND of learning we still need to trudge through.

Writing on desks. Writing on tables. Writing on any imaginable surface that some dry erase makers can't damage.  Thank goodness Expos are so easily erased!

Brain breaks. EVERY. DAY. EVERY. HOUR.

Go Noodle is my lifesaver. Ice cream & guacamole, anyone?

And when the sunshine really gets to my brain, & I just can't take one more second of school work. I hit up TJMaxx for some fun Hawaiian vacation shopping! Hurry July!

The #fourthquarterstruggles are real.  But keep on keeping on, friends!

We can make it!

Once Upon a Spring Break!

This past week was spring break! Best week of the year! There's just something wonderful about sunny, spring weather...

except that it's been RAINING (just about all week).

Seriously?!

I shouldn't complain, though.  I accomplished a good bit around the house, & even FINALLY finished filing my taxes. Hallelujah!

Here are 5 exciting ways I spent my break:

1. I had a sleepover with the sweetest littles.  When it was too rainy to be outside, we played The Ladybug Game.  It has soo many awesome reviews, and let me tell you... they don't lie! This game was perfect for counting, and even a 3 and 4 year old were able to play successfully (and I wasn't losing my mind trying to get them to follow the directions either)!

2. Hubby & I ventured to Cabella's for an afternoon.

Don't worry.

He was kind enough to endure a trip to Target afterwards.  

If that's not love, I don't know what is.

3. What's spring break without a beach day?!

Clouds & raindrops can't stop us from having a girls day at the beach... even if it's spent searching for wild beach horses instead of tanning in the sand.

4. Hubby was deployed for my 30th, so we (finally, finally, finally) had a chance to celebrate late this week.  We spent a rainy day at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Then went to see...

WICKED!

AaaaaMAZING!

I'm in love. And feeling like defying gravity. :)

5. Because I'll have to be getting back into school mode here shortly, I'll leave you with some fairy tale writing.

In 2nd, we studied a lot of fairy tales, including different versions of each.

At the end of our unit, we LOVED writing our own fairy tales.

I whipped up a graphic organizer, fancy fairy tale final draft paper, & a prince/princess crown for display.

You can get your own here!

Place Value (& a Freebie!)

Flats! Longs! Units! Oh my!

There are way too many different terms for 100's, 10's, & 1's aren't there?!

We've been busy sorting through it all in our place value unit with 3 & 4 digit numbers.  Some days I can't believe these kiddos are doing math with such big numbers already.  Where has the year gone?

...Not that I'll be complaing when I'm sitting on the beach in June. :)

If your sweet students are anything like mine, sitting still is just absolutely not an option.  We get up and moving as much as we possibly can all day long.

Hunt the Room activities are life savers.

I make a HUGE deal out of them every time. We must put on our detective hats, use our sneaky tiptoe walks and all!

Well, I thought you could all use a little mid-March treat.  So here is our Place Value Word Problem Room Hunt & it's FREE!

While you could easily use the same activity in a center or small group, I just feel that the time spent moving & thinking at the same time does so much more for their growing brains.

Not to mention that I also get to be moving around the room at the same time, getting in some extra steps & "exercise" for the day. Win!

It's Currently 2015!

OH. MY. WORD.

What happened to the second half of 2014?!

I really fell of the grid.

But, life was crazy. Good crazy. Sad crazy. All kinds of crazy.

That's what's so awesome about a "new year."  You get that preverbial "clean slate" to start all over with.

So I'm starting with a blog post.  Is there any better way to kick off the year that with a currently that's chock full of wishes & resolutions?

I think not. #Imayevenhashtaginthispost

Listening: Acapella makes my heart so happy!

Loving: My mother in law got me the most amazing blanket (ever) for Christmas.  "Because you're always cold!"  {Sooooo TRUE!}

*Brrr!* I better stay under this blanket #alldayeveryday

#toldyouso

Thinking: Today is the LAST day I'll be 29! WHAT?! 30, seems like such a ridiculous number.  I mean, regrouping all of those ones into a ten is... I dunno! What is it? I have no words for how strange it seems in my head.

I've been thinking all morning about all of the amazing things that will happen at 30.  My first half marathon (hopefully), the possibility of an incredible vacation, maybe feeling a little wiser now that I'm in a new decade, &....

Wanting: I get my husband back after I turn 30!!! So very soon he will finally be home from his latest deployment. I am Thrilled. Elated. Ecstatic!

Joy! Joy! Joy!

Needing: I've been running for a few years now, but one of the reasons for my blogging absense is that I've been running a LOT more in the past few months.  Unfortunately, my holiday damper was the realization that I definitely pulled one of those important knee muscles.  I've been on a running break to allow it to heal, but I'm clearly impatient.  Why won't it heal faster??? I have a 10-miler next weekend & a half marathon in February.  If you're reading this, please say a healing prayer! There's lots of power in that.

YES: This year, my only resolution is to finish what I start.  For example, if I start reorganizing the kitchen cupboards, I will not leave everything on the counters for daaaaays.  Imma get. it. done.

(I'm hoping my knee heals ASAP so this can apply to the races I've got coming up, too!)

MAYBE: I run a lot.  I do yoga-esque workouts often.  I lift weights 1-2 times a week.  I'd really like to think about doing more with weights in the gym this year. ...We'll see!

I WISH: I wish & pray & pray & pray for GOOD HEALTH! Not just for myself, but for my family, friends, & all of YOU!

What are you ready for in 2015???

Thankful Hearts

It's been sooo long since I've written anything.  MONTHS, people!  I could give a million & one excuses, but I'll spare you all the drama. You're welcome.

Anyway...

It's finally Thanksgiving break!

Take this week to reflect on all the wonderful blessings in your life, big & small.  Be thankful for them.  Not just on Thanksgiving, but every day.

Have a wonderful holiday!